Environmental pollution is one of the most-discussed issues in the world today. Pollution and greenhouse gases have been blamed for causing climate change, health problems and natural disasters, such as hurricanes and flooding.
Two of the largest causes of environmental pollution and greenhouse gases are the automotive industry and the power industry, both of which burn fossil fuels in internal combustion engines. Engines for cars, trucks, airplanes, trains, ships, boats, buses, motorcycles, mopeds, snowmobiles, chainsaws and lawnmowers (among others) spew pollution and greenhouse gases into the environment. Power plants use engines that burn fossil fuels such as natural gas, diesel and coal, which produce additional pollution and greenhouse gases.
The concerns relating to pollution and greenhouse gases are expected to increase as emerging countries, such as China and India, continue their economic development. The total number of internal combustion engines that burn fossil fuels is only expected to increase. The manner in which pollution and greenhouse gases is regulated, generally, varies from country-to-country. The degree of enforcement of such regulations also, generally, varies from country-to-country. However, there are no strict boundaries associated with the spreading of pollution and greenhouse gases. Accordingly, at present, there is no practical solution to solve this global problem.
Alternative fuels, such as hydrogen and ethanol, have been proposed to reduce pollution and/or greenhouse gases. Automobiles powered by hydrogen-based fuel cell technology are expected to be completely pollution free. However, with respect to hydrogen, the infrastructure for a so-called hydrogen-based economy is not yet available. For example, hydrogen-based filling stations are not widely-available. Furthermore, there is no low-cost method for producing and storing hydrogen in large volumes.
If automobile engines used only ethanol as their fuel, pollution would be reduced, since ethanol is a clean-burning fuel. However, carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas, would still be produced. Depending upon the design of an ethanol-burning engine (e.g., the compression ratio and, correspondingly, the temperature inside the engine), other greenhouse gases (e.g., oxides of nitrogen) might still be produced.
Furthermore, techniques are not available to supply enough ethanol to sustain an ethanol-based fuel economy. In fact, there is an insufficient capacity to produce ethanol to supply the world with a mixture of more than 10% of ethanol with other engine fuels.
Efforts have been made to reduce pollution caused by internal combustion engines that use fossil fuels. For example, catalytic converters have been used in combination with internal combustion engines in an attempt to burn-away hydrocarbons that remain unburned in the internal combustion engine. To explain certain problems associated with engines that use catalytic converters, reference is made to FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a system 100 that includes an internal combustion engine 110, an air supply 120, a fuel supply 130, a carburetor/fuel injector 140, a drive shaft 150, a catalytic converter 160, an air blower 170 and a PCV valve 180. Ambient air is drawn from the environment through the air supply 120 and is mixed with fuel supplied by the fuel supply 130. The air-fuel mixture is then delivered to the internal combustion engine 110 via a carburetor or fuel injector 140.
Through well-known techniques, a combustion process occurs, whereby chemical energy is converted over a number of steps to mechanical energy that is used to turn the drive shaft (e.g., chemical energy to heat energy, heat energy into kinetic energy, and kinetic energy to mechanical energy and, in the case of power plants, mechanical energy to electrical energy). Because of incomplete combustion, unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide are present in the engine 110. Instead of expelling these pollutants into the environment, the unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide are delivered to a catalytic converter 160 (in some cases, multiple catalytic converters), so a large portion of such unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide are burned before exhausting the remainder into the environment.
In order to burn such unburned hydrocarbons, an air blower 170 is used to introduce ambient air, which has not been subjected to the combustion process in the internal combustion engine. The ambient air includes two major gases, nitrogen and oxygen. The oxygen from the ambient air is used as a catalyst to burn the unburned hydrocarbons. However, because (in part) of the inhibiting affects of nitrogen (which is itself a fire retardant, often used in fire extinguishers), platinum is used in the catalytic converter as a catalyst for oxygen. Platinum increases the catalytic affect of oxygen to increase the temperature in the catalytic converter 160 to sufficient levels to complete the burning of most unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide.
A significant problem with raising the temperature to such levels (e.g., above about 1850 degrees Fahrenheit) is that compounds of oxygen unite with various compounds of nitrogen to form various oxides of nitrogen, collectively known as NOx. NOx is thought to include greenhouse gases, which are believed to contribute to global warming. In fact, some believe that NOx is three hundred times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
The inventor has recognized that NOx could be significantly reduced if a technique were available to reduce or eliminate the nitrogen being introduced into the catalytic converter 160 by the air blower 170. The inventor has also recognized that the amount of unburned hydrocarbons could be significantly reduced if a technique were available to reduce or eliminate the nitrogen being introduced into the internal combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine 110.
As can be seen from FIG. 1, the unburned hydrocarbons exiting the internal combustion engine 110 represent chemical energy that has been unconverted into heat energy. Once the unburned hydrocarbons are delivered to the catalytic converter, they are converted into heat energy. However, such heat energy is not converted into kinetic energy and, therefore, cannot be converted into mechanical energy (or, ultimately, electric energy in the case of a power plant). In other words, no useful work is performed by the unburned hydrocarbons with respect to powering the drive shaft 150. The inventor has recognized that the amount of useful work associated with powering the drive shaft 150 can be increased if a technique were available to more completely burn a higher percentage of the fuel in the combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine 110, so that significantly less unburned hydrocarbons were expelled from the combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine 110.
Referring still to FIG. 1, unused heat energy is also delivered from the combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine 110 to the catalytic converter 160—the greater the percentage of unburned hydrocarbons, the greater the percentage of waste heat (i.e., heat that is not converted into mechanical energy). The inventor has recognized that the amount of useful work associated with powering the drive shaft 150 can be increased if a technique were available to more completely burn a higher percentage of the fuel in the combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine 110, thereby reducing the amount of waste heat expelled from the combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine 110.
In addition, waste heat is absorbed by the internal components of the combustion chamber (e.g., the heads, the pistons, the exhaust valve, the intake valve, the cylinder walls, etc.) of the internal combustion engine. The inventor has recognized that the amount of useful work associated with powering the drive shaft 150 can be increased if a technique were available to recover the potential energy associated with the waste heat absorbed by the internal components of the combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine 110.
FIG. 2 is a simplified and enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion of a conventional internal combustion engine 200 illustrating an engine block 210, a cylinder 212, a head assembly 214, a combustion chamber 216, a piston 218 (including a head portion 220 and a skirt 222), a rod 224, a wrist pin 226, a first metallic compression ring 230, a second metallic compression ring 238, a metallic oil ring 239, an intake manifold 242, an exhaust manifold 244, an intake valve 246, an exhaust valve 248 and a spark plug 250. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2, which illustrates a cross-section of the piston 218, wrist pin 226 and rod 224. FIG. 4 is a magnified view of a portion of FIG. 3, which illustrates the first metallic compression ring 230 and the second metallic compression ring 238, without showing its metallic oil ring 239. FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic representation of piston positions inside a cylinder of a conventional four-stroke engine and associated valve positions.
The operation of internal combustion engine 200 is well-known and, therefore, will only be briefly described. With reference to FIGS. 2-5, the piston 218 starts at top dead center. Top dead center is the position of the piston shown in FIG. 2, without regard to the opening or closing of the intake valve 246 or the exhaust valve 248.
The suction stroke begins when the piston 218 moves downwardly as a cam (not shown) simultaneously opens the intake valve 246 (with the exhaust valve 248 closed), so that the air/fuel mixture is drawn into the cylinder 212 by the suction created by movement of the piston 218 (see FIG. 5). Once the piston 218 reaches bottom dead center, the intake valve 246 is closed and the exhaust valve 248 remains closed, thereby ending the suction stroke and beginning the compression stroke.
During the compression stroke, the piston 218 moves upwardly, thereby compressing the air/fuel mixture. The compression stroke ends and the power stroke begins when the piston 218 reaches top dead center, again with both the intake valve 246 and the exhaust valve 248 closed.
During the power stroke, the spark plug 250 fires, which ignites the fuel and creates the energy sufficient to thrust the piston 218 downward. The power stroke ends and the exhaust stroke begins when the piston 218 reaches bottom dead center.
During the exhaust stroke, a cam (not shown) is used to open the exhaust valve 248, when the piston 218 is at bottom dead center. As the piston 218 moves upwardly, products of combustion are pushed out of the cylinder (past the exhaust valve 248) and into the exhaust manifold 244. Ultimately, after the piston has reached top dead center (i.e., the end of the exhaust stroke), most of the products of combustion are delivered to a catalytic converter 160 (see FIG. 1), where a second combustion takes place, during which attempts are made to burn the unburned hydrocarbons.
The exhaust stroke ends when the piston 218 is at top dead center and the exhaust valve 248 is closed and the intake valve 246 is simultaneously opened. The 4-cycle process is complete and the process begins again with the next suction stroke.
As seen in FIG. 4, the first metallic compression ring 230 is located in first annular groove 228 in the piston 218 and the second metallic compression ring 238 is located in second annular groove 236 in the piston 218. The first and second metallic compression rings 230, 238 each extend beyond the outer diameter of the piston and are designed to contact the cylinder wall 212 (see FIG. 2).
Because of temperature changes in cylinder 212, the first and second metallic rings 230, 238 are made of spring steel that is designed to expand and contract. The first and second metallic rings 230, 238 each include a gap 252, as shown in FIG. 6. The gap 252 closes as the temperature inside the cylinder 212 increases. Conversely, the gap 252 opens as the temperature inside the cylinder 212 decreases. More specifically, when the piston 218 is heated and expands, the first and second metallic rings 230, 238 are forced against the cylinder wall 212, which squeezes the spring steel, thereby reducing the size of the gap 252.
The first and second metallic rings 230, 238 each have a height 254, 256 (respectively). Because the height of the first metallic ring 230 expands due to the heat in the cylinder 212, the first metallic ring 230 is not tightly seated in the first annular groove 228. (Likewise, the second metallic ring 238 is not tightly seated in the second annular groove 236.) Accordingly, some tolerance (not shown) is provided between the height of the first annular groove 228 and the height of the first metallic ring 230. If sufficient tolerance were not provided, the friction between the upper/lower surfaces of the first metallic ring 230 and the corresponding surfaces of the first annular groove 228 would prevent the gap 252 of the first metallic ring 230 from closing at higher temperatures. Therefore, the friction between the metallic ring 230 and the cylinder wall 212 would increase, causing the engine to cease (not unlike what would occur if the engine lost its engine coolant or engine oil).
The tolerance between the first metallic ring 230 and the first annular groove 228 (and, likewise, the tolerance between the second metallic ring 238 and the second annular groove 236) allows for blow-by, which causes a number of problems each of which damage the engine. For example, during the suction stroke, blow-by of the air/fuel mixture through the gap between the piston 218 and the cylinder wall 212 into the crankcase (not shown, but below the piston 218) both reduces the volumetric efficiency of the engine (thereby reducing fuel economy) and gives rise to the need of a PCV valve 180 (see FIG. 1) to extract oil and fuel vapors from the crankcase.
During the compression stroke, hydrocarbons (such as oil vapors and fuel vapors) are drawn up from the crankcase into the combustion chamber after blowing-by the first metallic compression ring and the second metallic compression ring 230, 238. The oil in the crankcase is designed to lubricate the cylinder wall 212, while resisting combustion. Accordingly, oil vapors similarly are designed to resist combustion, whereas fuel vapors are designed to burn. Unfortunately, the oil vapors are mixed with the air/fuel mixture that is being prepared for combustion during the compression stroke. Some of the oil vapors become attached to the internal components of the combustion chamber (e.g., the piston head 220, bottom of the intake valve 246, the bottom of the exhaust valve 248, the spark plug 250, etc.). In addition, some of the oil vapors become affixed to the first and second compression rings 230, 238.
During the power stroke, the oil vapors that are mixed with the air/fuel mixture result in incomplete combustion. Specifically, the portion of the air/fuel mixture that does not burn leads to the production of unburned hydrocarbons, among other things. Similarly, the portion of the oil vapors that does not burn also leads to the production of unburned hydrocarbons, among other things. Because the oil vapors are not designed to burn, they interfere with the efficient movement of the flame front, which leads to further incomplete combustion of the air/fuel mixture causing even more unburned hydrocarbons and a reduction in kinetic energy.
Still during the power stroke, some unburned hydrocarbons and unburned air/fuel mixture are blown-by the rings into the crankcase causing additional oil vapors, while other unburned hydrocarbons become attached to the first and second metallic rings 230, 238 before they can reach the crankcase. Because the temperature of the unburned hydrocarbons and the air/fuel mixture is high relative to the temperature during the suction stroke, the amount of oil vapors that is produced during the power stroke is generally greater than the amount of oil vapors produced during the suction stroke. This gives rise to a greater need for a PCV valve 180. It should also be noted that unburned hydrocarbons can also become attached to the piston head 220 and the cylinder walls 212 during the power stroke.
During the exhaust stroke, oil vapors and fuel vapors are drawn up from the crankcase by the rising piston 218. Some of the oil vapors attach themselves to the first and second metallic compression rings 230, 238 and to the first and second annular grooves 228, 236. Other oil vapors blow-by the rings on their way into the combustion chamber 216 and, along with unburned hydrocarbons (i.e., those hydrocarbons that have been exposed to the combustion process), become attached to the internal components of the engine including the cylinder wall 212, the piston head 220, bottom of the intake valve 246, the bottom of the exhaust valve 248, the bottom of the head assembly 214, the spark plug 250, the valve seat of the exhaust valve and the exhaust manifold 244 (and, if present, fuel injectors). Because the oil vapors and unburned hydrocarbons are not evenly distributed on the seat of the exhaust valve, the exhaust valve 248 may leak.
As a result of the oil vapors and unburned hydrocarbons sticking to the internal components of the engine, along with heat radiating from the exhaust valve 248, problems may be caused such as pre-ignition, dieseling, knock, ping, and shockwaves, resulting in additional blow-by and damage to the engine. Ultimately, this results in reduced fuel economy, reduced power, increased pollution, increased engine wear and the need for increased maintenance.
Blow-by also causes other problems in the engine. Because the chemistry of the unburned hydrocarbons is equal to sand and glass in its abrasiveness, when the unburned hydrocarbons mix with the oil in the crank case, the viscosity of the oil is broken down. Instead of the oil lubricating moving parts of the engine, the oil becomes a medium for transporting the unburned hydrocarbons to the moving parts, thereby creating excessive wear of such moving parts.
The unburned hydrocarbons in the oil and the unburned hydrocarbons on the cylinder wall 212 may also plug-up the orifices of the oil ring 239 (see FIG. 3), thereby rendering the oil ring 239 inoperable. Therefore, the oil ring 239 is unable to deliver a sufficient amount of oil through at least some of its orifices to locations along the cylinder wall 212. At such locations, the metal-to-metal contact between the skirt 222 of the piston 218 may cause scoring of the cylinder wall 212 or cause wear of the skirt 222 of the piston 218 (resulting, for example, in piston slap). Furthermore, the metal-to-metal contact between the first and second metallic compression rings 230, 238 and the cylinder wall 212 at such locations may cause wearing of the first and second metallic compression rings 230, 238, scoring of the cylinder wall 212 or ceasing of the engine. The scoring of the cylinder wall 212, the wearing of the skirt 222 of the piston 218 and the wearing of the first and second metallic compression rings 230, 238, all result in further blow-by.
Furthermore, the unburned hydrocarbons that are attached to the first and second metallic compression rings 230, 238 and that are lodged in the first and second annular grooves 228, 236, reduce the effectiveness of the first and second metallic compression rings 230, 238 (e.g., requiring a ring job), since they cannot open and close their gaps 252 properly. Therefore, the first and second metallic compression rings 230, 238 may break, wear, or cause scoring of the cylinder wall 212. Accordingly, blow-by is increased, thereby further exacerbating the problem and accelerating the demise of the engine.
The inventor of the present invention has recognized that fuel efficiency will be increased, power will be increased, pollution will be reduced, engine life will be lengthened, maintenance costs will be reduced, and superfluous parts can be eliminated (e.g., catalytic converter 160, air blower 170, PCV valve 180 and the sensors and computing power associated with the regulation of such items, thereby reducing the cost and the weight of the engine and saving space), if a technique were available to reduce or eliminate blow-by.
Because engines similar to the one shown in FIGS. 2-6 use first and second metallic compression rings which engage the cylinder wall, the design of such engines is limited due to the contact area between the metal rings and the cylinder wall. For example, friction is exponentially increased as the diameter of the cylinder is increased, since the contact area between the metal rings and the cylinder wall is exponentially increased. Also, the likelihood and amount of blow-by will increase (as will the likelihood of the problems associated with blow-by, discussed above), since the area in which blow-by may occur is also exponentially increased when the diameter of the cylinder is increased. Furthermore, as the length of the stroke of the piston inside the cylinder is increased, the friction between the metal rings and the cylinder wall will exponentially increase, since the contact area between the metal rings and cylinder wall exponentially increases.
In order to reduce the friction and blow-by in each individual cylinder, cylinder sizes and stroke lengths are designed to be relatively small. However, in order to increase the amount of power associated with each individual cylinder, the average velocity of the piston (per stroke) inside of the cylinder must be correspondingly increased. As a consequence of increasing the average velocity of the piston, the amount of friction per unit time increases and the temperature increases (giving rise to possibility of the formation of oxides of nitrogen, which forces the engine designer to reduce the compression ratio by engine redesign).
Furthermore, in order to provide sufficient power for the engine as a whole, a larger number of cylinders is required, thereby increasing the number of component parts, increasing the space required for such parts, increasing the weight (which reduces fuel economy), increasing the maintenance and increasing the cost. Even further, the increased number of cylinders increases the collective amount of friction, the collective amount of heat loss and the collective amount of blow-by (and their associated problems, discussed above).
The inventor of the present invention has recognized that it would be beneficial to provide an engine that maintained or increased the amount of power per cylinder while decreasing the average velocity of the piston (per stroke) inside of the cylinder, so that the total number of cylinders could be reduced, the number of component parts could be reduced, the collective space required could be reduced, the weight could be reduced, the fuel economy could be increased, the collective amount of maintenance could be reduced, the relative cost could be reduced, the collective amount of friction could be reduced, the collective amount of heat loss could be reduced, the collective amount of blow-by (and its associated problems, discussed above) could be reduced and the collective amount of pollution could be reduced.
In the 1970's and 1980's, in an effort to reduce blow-by, the inventor of the present invention researched, developed and tested an internal combustion engine. More specifically, the inventor modified an existing Chevrolet V-8 engine and incorporated his technology. Although features of the inventor's modified engine are described below, the inventor does not necessarily admit that such engine is “prior art,” as such term is legally defined.
The inventor's modified engine differed from the internal combustion engine discussed in FIGS. 2-6. Specifically, instead of having a second metallic compression ring 238 of FIGS. 2-4, a non-metallic ring assembly 738 (shown in FIG. 7) was used. Neither the first metallic compression ring 230, nor the oil ring 239 was replaced. In addition, the cylinder was slightly bored-out (approximately 0.060 inch) and had a smooth, mirror-like finish.
FIG. 7 is a simplified, enlarged and exaggerated diagrammatic representation of a portion of a cylinder wall 712, a portion of a piston 218, a gap 232 between the cylinder wall 712 and the piston 218, an annular groove 736 and a non-metallic ring assembly 738. The non-metallic ring assembly 738 includes a generally T-shaped (in cross-section) Rulon ring 740 and a Viton O-Ring 742.
The Rulon ring 740 has a front 744, which contacts the cylinder wall 712 as the bearing area, and a back 746 which is that surface furthest from the cylinder wall 712. The height of the back 746 of the Rulon ring 740 is approximately twice the height of the front 744 of the Rulon ring 740.
The Viton O-Ring 742 operates as a spring against the Rulon ring 740 and pre-loads the Rulon ring 740 against the cylinder wall 712. The Viton O-Ring 742 sits in the area between the back 746 of the Rulon ring 740 and the back 748 of the annular groove 736. When heated and under pressure, the Viton O-Ring 742 acts hydrostatically.
A system pressure (either positive or negative, depending on the stroke of the engine) is created in the gap 232 between the cylinder wall 712 and the piston 218. The bearing pressure associated with the pre-load is sufficient to direct the system pressure between the back 746 of the Rulon ring 740 and the back 748 of the annular groove 736, taking the path of least resistance.
The Viton O-Ring 742, acting hydrostatically, moves to the top or bottom of the Rulon ring (depending on whether the system pressure is positive or negative) and operates as a check valve to prevent the system pressure from flowing thereby. Thus, the Viton O-Ring 742 prevents any blow-by behind the non-metallic ring assembly 738 (through the annular groove 736) into the crankcase or the combustion chamber 216, depending upon whether the system pressure is positive or negative.
The moments of force associated with the system pressure are directed (perpendicularly) from the back 746 of the Rulon ring 740 toward the front 744 of the Rulon ring 740. Since the back 746 of the Rulon ring 740 is approximately twice the height of the front 744 of the Rulon ring 740, the force against the cylinder wall 712 is amplified and is approximately twice the force of the system pressure, which prevents any blow-by between the Rulon ring 740 and the cylinder wall 712. In view of the above, it can be seen that the non-metallic ring assembly 738 prevents blow-by, either at the bearing area or at the back the non-metallic ring assembly, regardless of whether the system pressure is from the combustion chamber 216 towards the crankcase or from the crankcase towards the combustion chamber 216, completing a universal seal.
The force in the bearing area is dependent upon the system pressure, since the system pressure is directed behind the Rulon ring 740. Accordingly, the force in the bearing area will change depending upon the system pressure. Thus, the greater the system pressure, the higher the bearing pressure (and visa-versa). Therefore, the non-metallic ring assembly 738 forms a dynamic seal.
One of the problems with the non-metallic ring assembly 738 shown in FIG. 7 is that oil vapors (from the oil on the cylinder walls 712 and the oil from the crankcase) and unburned hydrocarbons (from the fossil fuels) find their way to the back 746 of the Rulon ring 740. This can cause the Viton O-Ring 742 to become dirty and can cause the Viton O-Ring 742 to lose its ability to perform as a check valve. Furthermore, the Viton O-Ring 742 can lose its elastic spring-like qualities, thus not providing an adequate pre-load. Accordingly, over time, the non-metallic ring assembly may allow blow-by both near the front 744 of the Rulon ring 740 (i.e., the front of the non-metallic ring assembly 738) and near the Viton O-Ring 742 (i.e., the back of the non-metallic ring assembly 738).
In addition to the changes described above, the inventor's modified engine also used a larger flywheel (not shown) that the flywheel used in the unmodified Chevrolet V-8 engine. Furthermore, the flywheel had a greater amount of weight concentrated near its periphery than the flywheel of the unmodified Chevrolet V-8 engine.
The inventor's modified engine was subjected to an emissions test and the modified engine passed such test. However, more impressively, the inventor's modified engine passed the emissions test without a catalytic converter or an air blower.
On Jan. 4, 2005, the inventor of the present invention was awarded U.S. Pat. No. 6,837,205, which is entitled “Internal Combustion Engine” and which was filed on Oct. 28, 2002. U.S. Pat. No. 6,837,205 is incorporated herein by reference.
In an effort to reduce the potential for blow-by described in connection with the non-metallic ring assembly of FIG. 7, U.S. Pat. No. 6,837,205 discloses a first compression ring assembly 800 (although the aforementioned term is not used in the patent) and a non-metallic compression ring 838. No change was made to the oil ring.
As shown in FIG. 8, the first compression ring assembly 800 is received in first annular groove 828 of piston 818 and includes first and second outer metallic rings 830, 832, with gaps (like gap 252 in FIG. 6) that are oriented 180 degrees apart to reduce blow-by through the gaps. In addition, the first compression ring assembly 800 includes a non-metallic O-ring 834, which positively urges the first and second outer metallic rings 830, 832 into contact with the cylinder wall 812. The O-ring 834 also operates as a check valve in an effort to reduce blow-by.
The non-metallic compression ring 838 is non-gapped, so as to provide for the preloading thereof, and essentially prevents any blow-by. The height of non-metallic compression ring 838 is the same as the height of the annular groove 836 in which it is seated, so as to prevent any foreign materials from getting between the non-metallic compression ring 838 and the annular groove 836.
There can be problems associated with both the first compression ring assembly 800 and the non-metallic compression ring 838 shown in FIG. 8. For example, one of the problems with the first compression ring assembly 800 is that there is metal-to-metal contact between the outer metallic rings 830, 832 and the cylinder wall 812. This creates friction and heat, and requires oil as a lubricant. Furthermore, friction from the oil ring (not shown in FIG. 8) and the piston skirt (not shown in FIG. 8) exacerbate the problem.
In addition, one of the problems with the non-metallic compression ring 838 is that the inherent characteristics of the non-metallic compression ring 838 are the sole provider of the pre-load of the non-metallic compression ring 838 against the cylinder wall 812. Because of the friction from the metal cylinder walls, the non-metallic compression ring 838 will begin to wear, thereby reducing the pre-load. Once the pre-load has been sufficiently reduced, it becomes difficult to stop blow-by.
Accordingly, there is a need for a revolutionary engine that can solve some or all of the problems described above.